Police to Present 2020 Statistics to Public Safety Committee Showing Gun Seizures Up 27%

In an oral report to the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, Pasadena police are expected to tell committee members of the  288 firearms confiscated by officers in 2020, a 27% increase from the number of weapons seized in 2019.

At the meeting, which is set for 4 p.m. Tuesday, police also plan to tell of how the department has been plagued by the increasing challenges posed by hard-to-trace ghost guns, or privately constructed weapons that lack serial numbers and other identifying characteristics. 

The majority of all the weapons confiscated were seized from vehicles. 

On Dec. 1, officers responded to a shooting at Villa Parke in which three people were wounded, two fatally, in what police said appeared to be a random attack. 

A preliminary investigation of the incident revealed that the three victims were sitting on a park bench when the shooting occurred. One person died at the scene, a second victim died en route to Huntington Hospital, and a third victim was hit but survived. The shooter fled in a vehicle.

Two days later on Dec. 3, Pasadena police officers conducted a traffic stop on a vehicle in the 1400 block of Navarro Avenue. The driver informed the officers he was in possession of a handgun. An inquiry into the gun’s serial number determined it was registered to a deceased individual from Riverside County. 

On Dec. 20, police recovered a weapon used in multiple shootings in Altadena after a police helicopter located a vehicle allegedly involved in multiple drive-by shootings in Altadena.

On Dec. 22, police recovered a weapon during a traffic stop after they observed a vehicle failing to yield on Montana Street and Raymond Avenue. 

On Dec. 28, police recovered a gun used in several robberies in the 700 block of Arroyo Avenue.  

In December alone, police confiscated 30 firearms, including 12 pistols, 12 rifles and assault rifles, and six shotguns.

In 2020, police seized 25 ghost guns, nearly 10 percent of all weapons seized.

California law enforcement officials are worried that mass shooters and other criminals who cannot legally purchase weapons are using ghost guns as an end-run around the state’s gun laws.

Police officers in Pasadena are not alone in dealing with this problem. One in three guns seized in the state has no serial number, according to federal firearms officials.

The U.S Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) doesn’t consider do-it-yourself gun kits firearms, according to PBS. This loophole allows buyers to forego background checks. Guns are not required to have serial numbers in most states.

The meeting can be viewed at http://pasadena.granicus.com/mediaplayer.php?camera_id=2&publish_id=9